outgoing senator of connecticut. >> thank you. >> neil: good to see you. >> thank you, neil. >> neil: given your reputation and respect that both parties hold for you many argue you will be the guy that helps bridge this gap. do you see that role? do you see anyone bridging this before the end of the year? >> i would love to play that role, but i got to tell you that right now, this is a to top-down hierarchal process. it's president and boehner. so the rest of ru russian us arg on sending messages by coming to your show. >> neil: the message i got is that you are not near a deal. is that accurate? >> guest: that is accurate, but the fact that president obama, speaker boehner met at the white house sunday, they put out the same statement, they haven't said anything for two days. >> neil: speaker boehner did. he was griping about the president not giving specific on spending. nancy pelosi was saying, you know, boehner is wrong. >> you have to reach to find encouraging news right now. everybody thinks we are going to get together and not let the country go over the fiscal cliff, which,